Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Now Why Did He Do That? The Author, Not the Character.
As you probably noticed, there are many similarities between Kite Runner and Things Fall Apart. Both authors are telling stories that involve fathers and sons, are set in countries/culture seemingly different than our own, and confront cultural conflicts within a culture and between cultures. Of course, in order to tell these stories in an engaging and interesting way, the authors have made some similar "storytelling" choices. What are some of the techniques both authors use to help you as readers better understand what's going on in the story? (Don't be afraid to consider some of the choices we discussed in class with Things Fall Apart.)
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One technique that I see is used by both Chinua Achebe and Khaled Hosseini is the use of stories within the story to help the reader understand the events that take place in the novel. In Chapter 7 of the Kite Runner, before the tournament, Hassan tells Amir of a dream he had in which he and Amir are brave enough to go into the lake where, supposedly, a monster is waiting. When they go together, they see there is no monster, and everyone is grateful to the two of them for their courage and they own the lake together. This is like the environment of the kite tournament, a nerve-wracking and extremely competitive event, and when Amir gets scared, Hassan reminds him that, like in the dream, if they are brave and work together, they will both come out to be victorious. Hosseini uses this bit of storytelling to inspire the reader and make the tone of the chapter more uplifting for the moment when they do win the tournament. Achebe used a similar bit of storytelling when Ekwefi tells her daughter Ezinma the story of the Tortoise and the Birds, about a greedy tortoise who the birds mistakenly trust and end up losing their food too. This story is intended to aid the reader in understanding the concept of greed which becomes so much larger in the book when the Europeans come and greedily take over the natives’ lands.
ReplyDeleteA technique used by both Achebe and Hosseini is their writing style. Both men try to foreshadow events in their books while also giving readers background knowledge on the main characters throughout the novels instead of all at once. The authors even used common dialect from their cultures such as “Inshallah” meaning God willing in Afghan culture and “Kwenu” meaning a shout of approval in Nigerian culture. There is also a hint of similarity when they have certain characters give helpful comments. Rahim Khan tells Baba he can’t color a child like he colors a coloring book and Ezeudu tells Okonkwo that he should have no hand in Ikemefuna’s death.
ReplyDeleteIn the book Kite Runner the author, Hosseini, uses a literary device called foreshadowing. Foreshadowing plays a major role in the writing process because it is designed to keep the reader interested with mere glimpses of events to come. In the Kite Runner when Hassan is about to be violated, Amir says, "I opened my mouth, almost said something. Almost. The rest of my life might have turned out differently if I had." (73) This piece of foreshadowing screams that more bad events have yet to take place. Everything in that chapter hinted that something else horrible had yet to come. The foreshadowing in the novel written by Khaled Hosseinin is a lot like the foreshadowing Chinua Achebe used in the novel Things Fall Apart. In Achebe's masterpiece he uses one piece of foreshadowing that would change his life forever. Okonkwo, the main character, tries to shoot his wife and she yells back something along the lines of you couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. Later in the book he ends up accidentally killing a young man. This sends his life into a downward spiral. Foreshadowing is a huge part in a book and in any creative writing. Both authors use this technique extremely well and it helps keep the reader intrigued.
ReplyDeleteA very obvious technique both Achebe and Hosseini uses is the strong foreshadow. In the early chapters of the Kite Runner by Hosseini, he used foreshadow not only to keep the readers interested but to give hints to the readers of what was yet to come. More specifically at the very end of chapter five Amir stated that ironically after Hassan’s surgery on his face was the last time he saw him smile. That statement itself foreshowed that something relatively soon was going to come into play. Now on the other hand in the novel by Achebe he uses countless amounts of foreshadowing. A major event that made the main character’s life, Okonkwo, take a down turn was when he accidently with absolutely no intention shot a six-teen year old boy killing him instantly. The ironic thing was that in the beginning of the novel the author foreshadows this event bad by having Okonkwo shoot as his wife intentionally and misses. Once the killing of the young child was played out the readers truly understood how the shooting at the wife was a piece of foreshadow. This technique plays a humungous role throughout both novels and quite frankly I believe it’s a fabulous method!
ReplyDeleteThe two techniques that i noticed are foreshadwoing and irony. Both of these literacy techniques keep me, the reader, want to continue reading and very entertained. I would just like to feed off Nathan's example for Kite Runner because it was kind of ironic what Amir said. If you remember in chapter 3, when Baba was speaking to Rahim Khan, Baba said "A boy who won't stand up for himself becomes a man who can't stand up to anything." (22) Hassan so far has been so loyal to Amir, especially by defending him and Amir just hid and watch Hassan get violated. The irony in Things Fall Apart is something that i will never forget. In Things Fall Apart it was ironic when Obeirka came to visit Okonkwo and told Okonkwo to go kill himself. The ending of the book ends with Okonkwo comitting suicide. Oh do I love reading sometimes.
ReplyDeleteA technque both Achebe and Hosseini uses is the way of letting the readers learn some of the meanings of the words as Sherlin said,“Inshallah” meaning God willing in Afghan culture and “Kwenu” meaning a shout of approval in Nigerian culture. But also how the young children in both storys are searching for one thing which is for love and to be their own person not ruled by their parents. For example Nwoye just wanted love from his father and he was willing to do anything to recieve it. Also Amir seeks the elusive respect of his father, Baba. He feels that if he wins the local kite-fighting tournament and presents his father with the kite of the second place boy, he will insure his father's respect and love. I believe that these are both great books because the settings are similar.
ReplyDeleteTwo techniques I believe Achebe and Hosseini used are the use of culturally relevant words towards different characters and the stories that are told. The culturally relevant words are important especially between Baba and Amir. Babe used the title "jan" when talking to the wicked Assef, but never with Amir. Amir says, "I wish Babe would stop calling him that. How often did he call me 'Amir jan'?" (97). The technique of story telling comes up with the lamb, comparing the slaughtering of a lamb to Hassan taking the boys abuse acceptability. While the boys were raping Hassan, Amir caught the look on his face, saying, "It was the look of the lamb" (76). Amir then goes on to tell the story of the yearly slaughtering of the lamb and his fascination to watch it happen. Amir describes the lamb's acceptance of being slaughtered as it "sees that its imminent demise is for a higher purpose" (77). He thinks Hassan had to be abused, so he could have the praise of his father for the kite fighting. Achebe used words wisely in his proverbs, to teach lessons through them. He also used stories, such as the tortoise to compare with an everyday situation.
ReplyDeleteSome techniques used in writing Things Fall Apart and the Kite Runner to better understand the two novels were language use and a brothership between two important characters. The words that were used in the books explained cultural meanings. Toophan agha was used to call Baba "Mr. Hurricane", which explained his personality as someone who doesn't quit. Strangely, a hurricane has an "eye", when everything is calm, like when Amir won the kite fighting tournament. As for the strong relationship between two young characters, this was present between Amir and Hassan, as well as Nwoye and Ikemefuna. Both friendships were strong, as if they were family.
ReplyDeleteAs many have mentioned I believe that Achebe and Hosseini use forshadowing and irony as some techniques in the novels. These techniques are shown in Kite runner when Assef had been picking on the Hassan and Amir I think it was forshadowing for something to happen when he had said, "you should know something about me, Hazara,"....."I'm a very patient person. This doesn't end today, believe me.". Some irony that I have seen so far was that Ali and Baba basically have the same relationship that Amir and Hassan have, one a sevant and one has a place in society. In "Things Fall Apart", there was plenty of foreshadowing there, Achebe often used foreshdowing with the simplist things as to even the way the sky seemed. The biggest ironic seen in this novel was of course when Okonkwo had accidently killed the son of the man that told him to have nothing to do with the killing of his so called son Ikemefuna which of course either way he did. These techniques that both these author use help the readers tremendously to understand why or how a certain scene occurred.
ReplyDeleteBoth authors from the Kite Runner and Things Fall Apart used proverbs and examples from stories in their writing. they also explained things in graphic detail so that the reader could gain a mental illistration of the event happening in the story. this helped the reader to understand a little beter because the reader was able to put themself in the characters shoes.
ReplyDeleteTwo techniques that both Achebe and Hosseini use in their books was storytelling and forshadowing. In kite Runner forshadowing was used when Assef told Amir and Hassan that that was not the end of him. Assef said, “This dosen’t end today, believe me.” (42). In Things Fall Apart forshadowing was used when the man with lepreasy was around and that was forshadowing that the Europeans were going to arrive. In the books the use of storytelling was also used. In Things Fall Apart we heard the story of the tourtoise and in Kite Runner the story that Hassan had about him and Amir. The use of these techniques both help the reader understand the story better.
ReplyDeleteThe authors of Kite Runner and Things Fall Apart both have used similar literary devices to convey their stores in an interesting and appealing way. Some of these techniques include foreshadowing, dialect choices, storytelling, irony, and many more. One of the most prominent is foreshadowing which is apparent from the beginning and through out the books. In the Kite Runner Amir convinces Hassan to use his slingshot to pelt a German shepherd with rocks. Later in the story Hassan is hit with a rock in the back when he runs into Assef, who was ironically German. It apeared again when Assef said, “This doesn’t end today, believe me.” It surely didn’t, after Hassan was violated, the suffering that Amir felt for not standing up and doing something will haunt him for a very long time. In Things Fall Apart there was also foreshadowing, for example when Okonkwo’s life seemed to fall apart when he accidentally killed a boy in the tribe and was sent into exile. This event foreshadowed the life of the life for the tribe and culture of Umuofia, which after the arrival of the colonists would also begin to fall apart. Such literary devices allowed the reader get a feel for the tone of the novel and helped them to make predictions of the events to come.
ReplyDeleteBoth authors used similar technique’s in their stories to make us as readers have a better visual and understanding of the story. For Things Fall Apart we discussed as a class that the author used proverbs. Also, in Kite Runner there is that technique of proverbs. How Rahim said that children are not coloring books, you can’t fill it in with your favorite colors. By that proverb really made the audience have a understanding visual in their own minds. The technique of proverbs is a great way to explain situations that occur in the book. Both authors used many other similar techniques like similes, metaphors, flashbacks and many more, but I chose to talk about proverbs because I thought that technique is the best used in both books.
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